In most south east Asian counties a kind of vajrayana was present, before Theravada was established. Like the rivers are flowing down the himalaya. Theravada protects the simple source of the teachings.From my own experiences it is useful to get also in touch with those teachings as they provide the root skills for what every raft one likes to build or to use.

Dear Ñāṇa was supplying those recourse in Dhammawheel, and I thought it would be good to share it, as there are many hidden cultural and religious facts in countries like Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and so on.It would be great, if you can share also some "reconnecting" sources which will be useful to get the whole view of the emptiness of the Dharma/Dhamma.

Ñāṇa wrote:Hi all,

Here are some resources for anyone interested in the historical aspects of the bodhisattva path in Sri Lanka and other Theravāda locations:

Chandawimala Thero, Rangama. Bodhicitta in Theravāda Buddhism with Special Reference to the Abhayagiri Fraternity in Ancient Sri Lanka. Presentation for Third Korean Conference of Buddhist Studies, 2006.

Samathavipassanabhāvanavākkapprakaraṇaṃ, Dvidhāvuttakammaṭṭhāna (Pāḷi prose. Beg. Vanditvā sirasā buddhaṃ … Okāsa okāsa bho sabbaññu Gotama sitthakadīpa… The 13 ch. titles are same as in Amatākaravaṇṇanā with which it is found in the same MS bundle. Maybedvi dhā refers to the verse text followed by the prose text. Cf prec. and next entries. N 6601(85ii).

I don't think there's much, if any, connection between the Pāḷi Yogāvacara teachings and Indo-Tibetan Vajrayāna or Mahāyāna in general. The Dhamma Wheel thread probably should have better differentiated between the materials pertaining to historical aspects of the bodhisattva path in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and those pertaining to the Pāḷi Yogāvacara teachings. Two quite different categories.

it may sound arrogant, but my belly (heart) never had lied in my life. Normally I do never search for, if it is right or wrong, so I just walk on and 3 days ago I started to translate the book of Buddhadasa describing traditional Thai / Cambodian buddhist paintings.

Please see this:

2. MIND AND BODY

Here the symbolism is also illustrate body and mind. Body is represented by the earth-ware vessels (carried by the man on the left) while mind is shown as the whimsical, swift and restless monkey. (The same symbolism of the monkey representing mind is found in the Lord Buddha‘s discourses (Sutta) as well as in the illustrated Wheel of Wandering-on as seen in Tibetan temples). The monkeys prove themselves adept at avoiding capture and the hunters have difficulty in spearing and shooting these agile creatures. The meaning is that the monkey (mind) is difficult to control. The body, however, is mere earth-ware, and cannot move by itself; it is easily broken and fragile. The combination of these two make up a human being.

There are so many on side, which is very similar like the use of mandala and you also need to know that Cambodians for example are mainly origin from tibet mixed with austronesse. Following the megkong it is natural that also the costums are following. One more thing is that the great empiere Jajavarman VII who build Angkor Thom and also the famous Bayon Temple (he is often told as the reincanation of Chenrezi/Avaloketeshvar) was Mahayana.

Its not about history, as Buddhadharma isn't as well, so the motivation is not to find any other real unreality.I know that I have no "knowledge", so I am only able to point on something - may some are able to use it.